A Sportsman

I recall seeing some NYS bear harvest stats a few years ago and was surprised to see that most of the bears killed were smaller than what I would have figured. (say 150 and under.) The females just don't usually grow that big. I shot a female that was 7 years old and it dressed 148 i think.

Good question Wooly. The past couple of years duriing bow season I took the timid approach, staying well back off bedding areas. Trouble is all my hunting spots are public and I believe other guys were likely hunting "bold", destroying my efforts to tread lightly. The result was that I really didn't see any bucks to get excited about. This year, I'm getting more aggressive. Still Keeping my wind out of bedding areas but getting much much closer to them for morrning hunts especially. Also, I got a spot where for the past 3 years I've been noticing deer constantly using an area behind some houses. Prior til now I couldn't set up properly without being closer than 500 feet. So I left it alone. This year I will be in there as soon as the wind and my schedule allows. I already prepped a tree for climber. Could fill a wheel barrow with all the droppings around the stand. Hopefully it pans out, with my luck there are 3 other hunters who are also excited about keying in on exact same spot.

Enjoy yourself. Enjoy being in the woods regardless of success. Keep a mind for safety. Learn your gear. Learning how to hunt is a process and can disappoint/frustrate a new hunter if success isn't there. Accept it and stay at it. Lastly don't get caught up watching deer hunting on tv and expect real life to be like that. Also in the early years of hunting especially, any deer is a trophy.

Phade, excellent point about free time. Constraints of raising a family, lousy economy, 2 jobs, etc. Has impacted my free time in a major way. Same as it has for many dads out there I'm guessing. We still do the best we can with what we have. Bubba I hear your point. Its true that in hunting there are several rules which can be bent a little that may not seem like too big a deal. Is your stand 495' from house or 502'. Did you shoot 30 seconds after "legal" shooting light, etc. But to most hunters I think buying bait and dumping it and hunting over it is clearly more blatantly illegal than the other examples I stated. If baiting were legal, I'd be disappointed. But I would get over it and continue to do what I do, without baiting. Up in forever wild mountains where I gun hunt it wouldn't matter in the slightest anyway.

I have seen baitpiles about a half dozen times in long island. As high as the deer density is here, some hunters can't resist the urge to bait. Its sad. These are probably the same guys who steal your treestands. What burns me up about baiting is that guys know its illegal, and they know that honest hunters don't do it. But they do it anyway. And then if they shoot something, they have no problems looking in the mirror knowing they cheated the rules, cheated other hunters, and ultimately cheated themselves.

I hunt public land almost always. One thing that frustrates me over and over is when you have a real good location that is loaded with sign that you want to hunt, intelligently. But you soon Discover that some other guy or a few guys are hunting it in a manner that fouls the whole place up. For instance, they are hunting from trees smack in the middle of a staging area with no regard for wind. Scent pouring into a bedding area. Public land deer can get educated real fast. The shame of it is that some of these locations can hunt 3 or 4 guys if done properly. I'd love to have a spot where "what other guys are doing" doesn't affect the deer. The public land I hunt in the catskills doesn't have many hunters, or deer for that matter. But success is had thru perserverence and years of experience. And there is a great feeling of accomplishment when u get one. Born, I think you said you are a new hunter. My advice would be not to worry so much about public or private land. Learn your equipment, learn how to read sign, keep the good atitude, and everything will come.

G-man all these years I've been going with cheap heavy hang ons and screw in steps for stands I intend to leave there. And climber for portability. But I've found myselfin the situation yourr describing often enough. Sometimes straight trees just don't exist where u want to be. Besides ii don't like the lack of cover provided on a telephone pole climber tree. I think you've talked me into sticks and a nice light hang on. Thanks.

Lawdwaz, I was thinking the same thing. I've never done thee january shotgun season but I guess those that do see that scenario often. Shot one at end of december once and fetus was the size of a half dollar if I remember right. I gotta say though, I like the better chance of cold weather and snow. And the ticks won't be as bad.

Meatmuzzy, I saw something to this effect on another site. It Wouldn't surprise me as I recall the dec giving some mention to this idea in a deer management plan from a year or two ago. Personally I like the idea because usually I can't get time to hunt in december. Busy with holidays and by then wife is usually at breaking point. That said, a 4 month season is darn long.

I set up a stand about 20 yds off sunrise highway a few yrs ago. Hunted it once and took it down. Didn't see any deer and the noise from the highway drove me crazy.

NFA nailed it with his mention of using weather conditions to dictate your approach. In addition to rain I would add windy days and snow.

Same butchers that do deer also do bear. Though I hunt the catskills, I butcher my own game so i can't recommend one.

Since I was a kid, I've had a thing for levers. Probably because my dad always hunted with a 336 in .35 cal. But I never actually got around to buying one til 2 weeks ago. About 10 yrs ago I walked into a gun shop expecting to leave with a lever of some sort, but the guy put a ruger compact m77 bolt in my hands and there it Stayed. Still love the gun but finally got around to scratching my itch for a lever gun. Got a used blr in .308 with the '81 stock. In spotless condition. Hope to christen it in couple months...

I hunt bow from trees on LI public land. And spend gun season on foot in catskills. I share docs feeling that by the time bow season ends, I'm sick of relying upon deer to come to me. I'm ready to "make things happen". Whether its still hunting, or teaming up with my hunting partners to try to bump deer to each other, depending upon Conditions. Also like doc, I select certain "deery" areas to focus on, where ill creep. And glass super slow. Other areas I move past quickly unless they are showing more sign than they normally do. I would love to shoot a deer, any deer, with bow from the ground. Haven't done it yet, haven't really tried much, but its on my list. I can appreciate the rush that must be.

Where I hunt in 3A there is some of the higher bear populations in the state. Just based on my recollection of hunting there since the mid 90s, we seem to have a few bear sightings every year. I think we've probably seen an increase in sightings but it hasn't been a big increase. And there have been years where we saw none, so its been a hard thing to track. As info, when I say "we",there are 6 Hunters spending an average of 5 or 6 days per year in the woods. Last year I think we laid eyes on 3 individual Bears. I think its nice That DEC is allowing for more bear hunting opportunities. Hoping to give the sept season a shot. We'll See.

There are situations that could arise on a hunt where its the right thing for mentor to carry a gun. Like tracking A wounded deer. There are also too many gray areas with respect to "helping" the kid. If u are trying to drive a deer to someone, you are hunting and should need a full fledged license. Whether u use the tags or not. Beyond that, to not require a license I think would be tough to enforce. I do feel your pain tho. For a mornings walk in the woods, buying a license is a bit much.

For bow, which for me is relatively short walks to and from a stand, I use kamik boots from cabelas. They are cheap. Like 30 or 40 dollars cheap, comfortable and do the job. For rifle, hunting mountains and walking most of the time I have the meindl perfekts also from cabelas. Great boots, tad heavy, but that's if I'm being real picky. As mentioned, different boots for different applications. No question about it. Is it hunting season yet? Starting to get that twitch.

When this idea was first announced months ago it sounded great to me. Maybe I was sad that deer season just ended and the prospect of getting in the woods early for bear this year was very appealing. Now that we've gotten closed to september I am questioning how buggy and warm it will be. Going up and down mountains could be especially rough in the heat. Then, if lucky to get one, that is gonna be one hell of a drag. Then again maybe I should stop sounding all grumpy about it and just get out there and do it.

Pygmy, I have read the same, and believe I have experienced a few misses on Deer where unseen twigs ruined my shot. Luckily not wounds. Even when you tell yourself to wait for that clear shot mistakes can and do happen in that moment of truth. Thosee twigs can be all but impossible to see unless you are really looking hard for them. Which is why I think it is good practice to strictly strive for a clear shot. That said, if you are close to the deer and can see clear as day, and there is some little bush right up against his body I would take the shot.

I think if someone is serious about having a reasonable chance at a bear in NYS, without bait, the catskills offers you that. Of course I'm not saying its easy, but if you dedicate a week to finding a bear, and are willing to cover ground,I think you've definitely got good enough chances to make a go it.

It seems like cabelas is constantly offering optics at discounted pricing. I bought a cabelas brand scope last year. Saved about 100 on a 400 dollar scope. It looked like a knock off on one the leopold models.

SoMe good comments here. My .02, my bowhunting clothing really doesn't take much abuse. I don't scout in the clothes I hunt in. And when I hunt I generally walk to a treestand and back. My clothes have lasted for years despite not being all that expensive. My suggestion is to buy at least two sets of camo. One for cold/wet conditions (I use a fleece camo with cabelas dryplus for this)and one for warm conditions. Use layering and long underwear for added warmth when needed. Much of the bowseason is not very cold, and sweating while hunting is not good so thin camo clothes get plenty of use. As for boots, rubber is what I use for bow. But again, I never found a need to spend a lot on them. To walk to a stand and stand there or sit, what's the point. I use 40 dollar rubber boots. The ones with removable liners. Lastly, on LI ticks are horrendous. So I scout wearing light colored regular clothes that I treat the same as my hunting clothes (descented). Good luck.

I got my bear done 3/4 mount and paid about 1.5 X as much. Your mount looks better than mine and was cheaper. Thanks for ruining my night. : (

Aha. If you took the face off your pieball and put it on the body of my pieball, we would have a semi decent looking deer. Maybe there are other genetic "issues" that are at play, besides the coat, that affect pieballs. I can try to dig up a photo of mine but I think I only have it as a hard copy photo.

I shot a piebald doe with the bow a while back. Maybe 12 years ago. I can understand if you have one that visits your property and want to keep it around. But my perspective is that by killing one, its not like there won't be piebalds around anymore. Personal choice I guess. I didn't get mine mounted. To be honest she wasn't very attractive in the face. I guess you could say she was a butterface.